Why Meghan Markle, raised a Christian, still got baptized before her royal wedding

In March, as royal wedding mania started heating up toward the fever pitch it has reached this week, the Daily Mail broke a surprising story: Two months before her wedding, Meghan Markle, England’s new duchess-to-be, was baptized with holy water from the Jordan River in a very private ceremony conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Washington Post reports.

It’s a slightly head-scratching story: Wasn’t Markle, a 36-year-old who has been Christian all her life, already baptized?

When asked about the reason for Markle’s recent baptism and confirmation — two Christian ceremonies initiating a believer into the faith — the royal family has been tight-lipped, as it is wont to be. But outside observers posit several reasons Markle might have been baptized now. First, the Rev. Ruth Meyers said, it’s important to note that Markle isn’t required to be baptized at all to be married in the Church of England, of which the monarch of England (currently Markle’s future grandmother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II) is considered the head.

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Meyers, who teaches liturgics of the Episcopal Church — the American denomination under the same umbrella as the Church of England — at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in California, said that most Episcopal churches will marry a couple as long as one member of the pair is a communicant member (more on that in a moment) of the church. Because Prince Harry is a member in good standing, Markle’s baptismal status doesn’t necessarily matter.

“Baptism, as we understand it in the church, is a free adult decision and is not required for marriage,” Meyers said. But of course, a royal wedding isn’t most weddings. There just might have been some family pressure.

“Miss Markle did not need to become an Anglican in order to marry Harry in church, but at the time of their engagement last November she made clear she had chosen to be baptized and confirmed out of respect for the Queen’s role as the head of the Church of England,” the Daily Mail wrote.

The Church of England recommends that couples either include a Communion service during their wedding or take Communion shortly after getting married. That means that Markle, if she wants to take Communion with Harry, did need to be confirmed in the Church of England or in another Anglican church, such as the Episcopal Church, which the Church of England welcomes to take Communion at its services.